Sexual Assault Uncovered In Illinois Nursing Home

Blog Post by Barry G. Doyle

Three residents at the Swansea Rehab Health Care nursing home in Swansea, Illinois were the victims of sexual assault by another resident of the nursing home.

The attacker has been diagnosed with psychosis, bipolar disorder, dementia, depression and behavior disorder. In addition to assaulting three residents, he also had a history of engaging in aggressive and sexual behavior with nurses. The daily Nurse’s Notes reports indicate an occasion when he groped a nurse and grabbed her when she attempted to stop him from touching her. When she told him that his behavior was inappropriate and unacceptable, he responded that he was aware that it was.

On multiple occasions, he was seen touching other residents in public, and then began cornering them in their rooms. On one occasion he was found fondling a cognitively impaired female resident in her room. Afterwards, the Swansea Rehab Health Care facility made no changes to the man’s plan of care that might address the behavior.

In a single month, the man was documented disrobing himself in public five times, and making sexually suggestive comments twelve times.

Resident on resident violence has recently been a frequent topic on this blog of late. It’s a small sample, but it’s possible that we’re beginning to see a negative reaction to the push by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reducetheuseofantipsychoticmedications in nursing home.

In order to reduce costs as much as possible, nursing homes first utilized physical restraints to control residents. When physical restraints were subjected to strict regulation, nursing homes turned to antipsychotic drugs to act as chemical restraints. These antipsychotic drugs lead to great numbers of injuries and deaths.

Nursing homes are now left with few choices. They can either hire additional staff to carefully monitor nursing home residents, or they can face the prospect of widespread nursing home violence and the lawsuits that should rightfully result from that decision.

Nursing homes have an obligation to provide a safe environment for all of their residents. When they fail to do so they are guilty of nursing home neglect.

If you have a loved one who has been the victim of assault in an Illinois nursing home, contact the LawOfficesofBarryG. Doyle for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.